Posted on 02/17/2010 11:08:12 AM PST by pissant
A prominent conservative senator said that Washington political leaders should "be replaced" if they do not back a document of conservative principles signed Wednesday.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) deemed it necessary that politicians endorse the Mount Vernon Statement, a document outlining a vision of "constitutional conservatism" backed by a number of right-wing activists.
"If our leaders cannot agree to the Mount Vernon Statement, they are part of the problem and should be replaced," DeMint tweeted.
The South Carolina senator has clashed multiple times with Republican leaders on how best to win in the 2010 midterm elections.
DeMint's Senate Conservatives Fund has backed several primary candidates who are running to the right of establishment Republican candidates, some of whom have been given the tacit backing of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).
Lets start with your colleague Lindsay Gramnesty!!!
Wise plan to me! Put up or be voted out!
This thing is way too generic, frankly.
***********************************
The Mount Vernon Statement
Constitutional Conservatism: A Statement for the 21st Century
We recommit ourselves to the ideas of the American Founding. Through the Constitution, the Founders created an enduring framework of limited government based on the rule of law. They sought to secure national independence, provide for economic opportunity, establish true religious liberty and maintain a flourishing society of republican self-government.
These principles define us as a country and inspire us as a people. They are responsible for a prosperous, just nation unlike any other in the world. They are our highest achievements, serving not only as powerful beacons to all who strive for freedom and seek self-government, but as warnings to tyrants and despots everywhere.
Each one of these founding ideas is presently under sustained attack. In recent decades, America’s principles have been undermined and redefined in our culture, our universities and our politics. The selfevident truths of 1776 have been supplanted by the notion that no such truths exist. The federal government today ignores the limits of the Constitution, which is increasingly dismissed as obsolete and irrelevant.
Some insist that America must change, cast off the old and put on the new. But where would this lead — forward or backward, up or down? Isn’t this idea of change an empty promise or even a dangerous deception?
The change we urgently need, a change consistent with the American ideal, is not movement away from but toward our founding principles. At this important time, we need a restatement of Constitutional conservatism grounded in the priceless principle of ordered liberty articulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The conservatism of the Declaration asserts self-evident truths based on the laws of nature and nature’s God. It defends life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It traces authority to the consent of the governed. It recognizes man’s self-interest but also his capacity for virtue.
The conservatism of the Constitution limits government’s powers but ensures that government performs its proper job effectively. It refines popular will through the filter of representation. It provides checks and balances through the several branches of government and a federal republic.
A Constitutional conservatism unites all conservatives through the natural fusion provided by American principles. It reminds economic conservatives that morality is essential to limited government, social conservatives that unlimited government is a threat to moral self-government, and national security conservatives that energetic but responsible government is the key to America’s safety and leadership role in the world.
A Constitutional conservatism based on first principles provides the framework for a consistent and meaningful policy agenda.
* It applies the principle of limited government based on the rule of law to every proposal.
* It honors the central place of individual liberty in American politics and life.
* It encourages free enterprise, the individual entrepreneur, and economic reforms grounded in market solutions.
* It supports America’s national interest in advancing freedom and opposing tyranny in the world and prudently considers what we can and should do to that end.
* It informs conservatism’s firm defense of family, neighborhood, community, and faith.
If we are to succeed in the critical political and policy battles ahead, we must be certain of our purpose.
We must begin by retaking and resolutely defending the high ground of America’s founding principles.
February 17, 2010
Edwin Meese, former U.S. Attorney General under President Reagan
Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America
Edwin Feulner, Jr., president of the Heritage Foundation
Lee Edwards, Distinguished Fellow in Conservative Thought at the Heritage Foundation, was present at the Sharon Statement signing.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council
Becky Norton Dunlop, president of the Council for National Policy
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center
Alfred Regnery, publisher of the American Spectator
David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union
David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society
T. Kenneth Cribb, former domestic policy adviser to President Reagan
Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform
William Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government
Elaine Donnelly, Center for Military Readiness
Richard Viguerie, Chairman, ConservativeHQ.com
Kenneth Blackwell, Coalition for a Conservative Majority
Colin Hanna, President, Let Freedom Ring
Kathryn J. Lopez, National Review
We the undersigned join in our support of the guiding principles of The Mount Vernon Statement.
I read it.
Just vague stuff. Not like the Contract With America. With the past as a model, this is a fake-out.
Nothing about spending and deficits, which I think would be the core of conservative thinking about government these days,
But the Republicans are just as much for government as the Democrats.
Fail
It’s fine as far as it goes. But it does nothing to tell us they intend to slash, and yes I mean SLASH, the hell out of the Federal gov’t.
This is just a bunch of crap to fool the people.
Should read "backed by a number of constitutionalists".
I agree with DeMint. Anyone who can't in good conscience sign this has no business in public office.
And anyone whose record doesn't match the sentiments expressed in the document, whether he signs it or not, needs to be retired from public office. We don't need any more supposed conservatives whose only principle is to avoid confrontation.
I'm starting to like this guy.
I’d love to see a list of those who have signed.
So I’ll know who *hasn’t* signed.
Anyone have a link ? Thx !
ooops, nevermind !
DEMAND A BALANCED BUDGET: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require a balanced budget with a two-thirds majority needed for any tax hike.
STOP THE TAX HIKES: Permanently repeal all tax hikes, including those to income, capital gains, and death taxes, currently scheduled to begin in 2011.
COMMIT TO REAL GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY: Every bill, in its final form, will be made public seven days before any vote can be taken and all government expenditures authorized by any bill will be easily accessible on the Internet before the money is spent. (Proposed by: Steve Kulik, Gonzales, Texas; and Steve Hollis, San Francisco, Calif.)
PROTECT THE CONSTITUTION: Require each bill to identify the specific provision of the Constitution that gives Congress the power to do what the bill does.
PASS REAL HEALTHCARE REFORM: Greatly improve affordability of health insurance by permitting all Americans access to all health insurance plans sold anywhere in the United States through the purchase of insurance across state lines and allow small businesses and associations to pool together across state lines to buy insurance.
ENACT FUNDAMENTAL TAX REFORM: Adopt a simple and fair single-rate tax system by scrapping the Internal Revenue code and replacing it with one that is no longer than 4,543 words—the length of the original Constitution.
END RUNAWAY GOVERNMENT SPENDING: Impose a statutory cap limiting the annual growth in total federal spending to the sum of inflation rate plus the percentage of population growth.
LET US SAVE: Allow all Americans to opt out of Social Security and Medicare and instead put those same payroll taxes in a personal account they own, control, and can leave to whomever they choose.
PROTECT INTERNET FREEDOM: No regulation or tax on the Internet.
GIVE PARENTS MORE CHOICES IN THE EDUCATION OF THEIR CHILDREN: Improve American education by reforming the broken federal role through eliminating ineffective and wasteful programs, giving parents more choices from pre-school to high school, and improving the affordability of higher education.
PASS AN 'ALL OF THE ABOVE' ENERGY POLICY: Authorize the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries and reduce regulatory barriers to all other forms of energy creation, lowering prices and creating competition.
PROTECT FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: Prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from using funds to reinstate the Fairness Doctrine in any form, including requiring "localism" or "diversity" quotas.
RESTORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY & CONSTITUTIONALLY LIMITED GOVERNMENT: Create a Blue Ribbon taskforce that engages in a complete audit of federal agencies and programs, assessing their Constitutionality, and identifying duplication, waste, ineffectiveness, and agencies and programs better left for the states.
PROTECT PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS: Block state and local governments that receive federal grants from exercising eminent domain over private property for the primary purpose of economic development or enhancement of tax revenues.
REJECT CAP & TRADE: Prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from implementing costly new regulations that would increase unemployment, raise consumer prices, and weaken the nation's global competitiveness with virtually no impact on global temperatures.
STOP THE PORK: Place a moratorium on all earmarks until the process is fully transparent, including requiring a 2/3 majority to pass any earmark.
NO CZAR REGULATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION: All "lawmaking" regulations must be affirmatively approved by Congress and signed into law by the president, as the Constitution requires for all laws.
AUDIT THE FED: Begin an audit of the Federal Reserve System.
NO MORE BAILOUTS: The federal government should not bail out private companies and should immediately begin divesting itself of its stake in the private companies it owns from recent bailouts.
STOP CAREER POLITICIANS & CURB LOBBYIST POWER: Begin the Constitutional amendment process to require Congressional term limits. No person shall be elected to the Senate more than twice or to the House of Representatives more than four times.
SUNSET REGULATIONS: All regulations will be "sunset" after ten years unless renewed by Congressional vote.
I also just read it. A lengthy preamble that says nothing. And some rather vaguely stated conservative principles.
And, I notice, NO SPECIFIC CONFIRMATION OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE.
I hate to say it, but it seems to have been designed to make RINOs feel comfortable about signing it. Not too bad on limited government. But nothing about the right to life. Nothing about the right to bear arms. Nothing about state’s rights.
FAIL.
Yep. Straying from it has gotten us where we are today.
They mention "founding principles" but leave it up to the signer to figure out what those principles are.
A lot of hype over nothing.
That thing is so vague and watered down with generalities that anyone on Earth could agree with it, at least in public
Are they for puppies and motherhood as well?
Totally agree. Graham-nesty needs to go with Juan McCain and Crist.
I disagree. It could be better but it certainly spells out a focus on limited government and increasing a focus on free enterprise. If the government becomes more limited while focusing on free enterprise then positive impacts spending and deficits will be the result.
Any politician that is not a conservative should be voted out of office this coming November regardless of whether he or she is either a Democrat or Republican. Remember, ladies and gentlemen, while POTUS Barack Hussein Obama is dedicated to the destruction of America, he cannot do it without the support of those in congress with similar views and mantras. I hate to use this cliche, but, “now is the time for all good men & women to come to the aid of our country”!!!!
Rush said yesterday it was the work of RINOs. Seems way to vague for me as well.
How about we hold to the tenets of the Constitution.
No longer do I trust anything these congressional clunker creatures do.
Yes I know Demint is well respected, but hey they need some window dressing ... So I would need to hear direct from him about what is going on.
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